Well, it's been over a year and for that I am sorry. This story has been on my mind but more pressing matters have occupied my time. First and foremost… I AM A DAD NOW! My wife told me the day after I posted my last chapter that she was pregnant. So with school, getting things ready for the baby and work, I have had no time for fanfiction. Then she was born (Unfortunately my wife wouldn't let me name her anything from anime) and all my spare time has been spent on her. So, while the story has been brewing in my head for this whole time, I haven't had the time nor the creative juices to put it into words. But now I'm back. Baby is on a consistent napping schedule and so I have a little time to write now.
Anyway, I'm a bit out of writing practice so I hope that this chapter doesn't throw off the flow and tone of the overall story. I think the story is ok, but the fighting is something I always struggle with, more so now that I haven't done it in a while.
But enough excuses. On with the story!
Chapter 43.
Piccolo stared at the two forms of his apprentice. Neither one had moved since their verbal exchange. It seemed like they had been frozen in place for over a year. Gohan had tried to reason with his dark side. Of course it didn't work. It was a foolish thing to do in his opinion. In the time before he was reformed, Piccolo would have sooner killed Kami (if that were an option) than merged with him as equals. Even if they shared dominance, he would have lost all sense of identity. Even so, despite the idea of a truce in such a fight being absurd, something about the way Gohan spoke gave him hope. At the beginning of the fight, Gohan seemed frantic, almost desperate to win. Understandable in the circumstances, but now? He was collected, resolved and confident. Piccolo didn't know what brought the sudden change on, but one thing was certain. Gohan wasn't about to lose this battle.
Suddenly, both Gohans disappeared from view.
"L-looks like they're back at it." Towa said in a trembling voice.
"Yes." Dabura nodded "And it would seem that considering the damage the light one has sustained, the dark one will have a significant advantage. Seems it won't take him long to overcome his lighter half at this rate."
Piccolo smiled. "Don't count on it Dabura. Gohan is far from losing this fight."
"Oh?" Replied the demon with a smirk. "And what makes you so certain of that?"
"Call it a master's intuition."
"Hmph. How quaint. What do you think about that Towa?"
The demon girl continued to stare wide eyed at the battle in front of her. "I think…" She gripped her staff tightly. "I think Piccolo is right."
Dabura raised his eyebrows. "Oh Really?"
"Yes. I may not be able to keep up with their fighting, but I can feel that his energy is… Different than before. It's steadier, if that makes sense." She turned to look at Dabura with a rare smile. "Don't count him out just yet."
As the spectators looked on, each Gohan tore into their opposite. While it was true that Light Gohan had sustained more damage than his counterpart, it didn't seem to affect him in the slightest. In fact, Gohan's countenance was vastly different than it was when the fight started. It was a calm, almost serene expression. A stark contrast the snarling glare of his opponent.
"Why would I accept a truce with someone as weak as you!?" The demon roared while throwing a series of punches. "You know I'm going to win! That's why you offered it! You're just afraid of me!"
Dark Gohan's blows became more intense, mirroring the ferocity of his emotions.
"That's all you are Gohan! Just a scared little brat! But daddy's not going to save you because you-OOF!"
The demon's assault had ceased as Gohan buried his fist into his opponents gut. Gohan looked his opponent in the eye with half a smile.
"I already told you." He pulled out his fist. "I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOOUUU!!!" Gohan unleashed a crushing blow to the demon's face, sending him plummeting to the ground. Dark Gohan wasn't down for long though. Almost as soon as he smashed into the rocky terrain, he had sped out of his crater and was swinging at Gohan once more.
Break
Hercule chewed his roasted dino meat and looked in awe at his knew buddy. Buu was devouring the entire beast, giant mouthful, by giant mouthful.
"Uh, hey there pal. You ever think about chewing your food before you swallow?"
The pink man stopped eating and turned his menacing glare on the one who disturbed his meal.
"GYEEE!" Hercule panicked and started to kowtow. One side effect of awakening his Ki was he now had a better sense of how powerful others where. He wasn't very good at it yet, but he could definitely tell that this guy was way above him. "Sorry! I meant nothing by it, just a suggestion, don't pay me no mind. Just thought you might like to taste the food, let the juices be savored you know? Ehehe…" The former champ trailed off with an awkward laugh.
Buu looked at the fool skeptically. Then he took a leg of the dinosaur and took a bite the same as he usually would. Only this time, instead of gulping it down, he actually started to chew it. Sure enough, the juices filled his mouth and a look of pure joy crossed his features.
"WOW! This is amazing!" He exclaimed with a full mouth. "You're pretty smart for how dumb you look!"
"Er… Thanks?" Hercule said weakly.
Buu continued his feeding frenzy, savoring every delicious morsel. Hercule would never have thought it was possible, but in under 30 minutes a whole t-rex was stripped down to its skeleton. All that was left was the normal sized steak that Hercule had on his plate. Suddenly Buu turned and stared at Hercule with such intensity that the champ was afraid he would have to surrender his steak. Fortunately, when Buu spoke, it was not to ask for the meaty treat.
"You're pretty smart." The pink man stated.
"Um… I guess so." Hercule felt it best not to argue. But before he could stop himself, he added "I did fail math in high school."
Buu waved a hand, indicating the unimportance of such a thing as math. "You know the secret of delicious meat, so that makes you smart."
Hercule couldn't argue with that logic so he just nodded.
"I have a bit of a… problem that maybe you could help me out with."
"Oh, well sure, I'll help if I can." The champ replied, eager to be of use to the man who fixed his eyes and not have to surrender his dinner. "What's the problem?"
Buu put a hand under his chin and thought. "That's just it, I don't really know. See, I was fighting these guys and it was pretty fun, you know? They were really strong and that allowed me to use all kinds of cool techniques on them. Of course, they lost, so the fun was over. I was about to finish the stronger one off, but before I could, some kid comes and hits me in the face. Then another person comes and hits me again. I tried to finish them off too, but I couldn't. That's never happened before. I always get the kill. But for some reason, when it came to these two, I just couldn't."
Hercule nodded his head. Not realizing that Buu meant kill in the literal sense, he found this situation fairly normal. "So what yer sayin' is somethin's messin' with yer fightin', right?"
Buu shrugged. "I guess so. Does this happen a lot?"
"Oh sure, it happens all the time." Hercule nodded sagely. "Sometimes a fighter just can't get in the groove ya know? Even really seasoned fighters hit a slump from time to time."
Buu nodded, feeling a little better. "So what should I do about it?"
"Well, in my experience, a fighter just needs to get his head right. Some come to the mountains to train. I guess that's probly why you came here huh? Did it help?"
Buu shook his head forlornly. "Not really. What else can I do?"
"Well… I guess the only other thing you can do is go home."
"Home?" Buu tilted his head as though the notion was a foreign concept.
"Yeah, you know, home. A place to go back to. Family, happiness and whatnot. Relax and get yer head straight. I know that anytime I'm in a rut, seein my lil girls face just brightens my day." Hercule suddenly became sullen. Thinking of Videl filled him with so much regret. He had to find her soon.
"So, I just have to go home and I'll be fixed?" Buu asked sincerely.
Snapping out of his reverie, Hercule responded to his new friend. "Yeah, I mean, probably. Then he turned to his new friend. "So where's home for you anyways pal? Pal?" Buu was no longer sitting next to him. "Where'd ya go?" He looked all around for the pink man, but Buu was nowhere to be seen. "Aw man! Did I eat some bad berries again!?"
Break
A storm of hands, feet, elbows and knees blazed across the demon world. Both fighters determined to conquer, neither one willing to submit. Wind and lightning whipped and crackled around them and a vortex formed, expanding ever outward.
Dark Gohan slashed at his enemy with a clawed hand, drawing blood from his chest. Gohan retaliated with a spinning back kick aimed at the opponent's temple. The demon blocked and slid in closer preparing to deliver an elbow strike to the spine. Gohan somersaulted forward, leaving his legs extended and catching the demon on the chin. Dark Gohan went reeling for a brief moment and Gohan landed another punch to his face. A second punch followed, only this time the fist was caught and the demon pulled his lighter side in, driving his knee into his victim's abdomen causing him to spit blood. The blonde gritted his teeth and used his free arm to wrap the attacking appendage, then sped straight for the ground. A brief struggle ensued where the demon strained for freedom, hitting Gohan in the back or his face to make him let go. Gohan was unyielding and, just before impact, he spun forward like a trebuchet, whipping the demon around and slamming his back flat on the jagged rocks beneath.
Debris flew everywhere and the shock of impact left the demon breathless. Gohan wasn't about to let this chance slide by. His fists lit up with the Masenko energy and he launched a haymaker straight down. Still out of breath, dark Gohan rolled to the side, narrowly evading the energized fist as it gouged into the iron-like ground. Gohan continued his pursuit, sending fist after fist down on his enemy, leaving deep, long gouges in the rocks each time as the target continued to roll.
Dark Gohan pushed up with his hands, launching himself back into the air and away from the fiery fists. Gohan was hot on his trail, continuing his rain of blows, trying to somehow drive his opponent into a corner. Dark Gohan was getting nervous as the fists were getting dangerously close, searing his flesh with each pass.
Relief came to the demon for a brief moment as, inexplicably, Gohan looked like he was starting to back off a little. Pressing his advantage and looking forward to his payback with savage glee, his counterpart wrapped one leg in Ki and launched a kick into Gohan's midsection, trying with all his might to cut him in two. The kick dissected its target perfectly, leaving one Gohan floating in two pieces before they both faded away. But before the dark Gohan could register that he'd only killed an after image, he felt himself being hauled up by the ankle and violently spun around.
"You know why I offered a truce!?" Gohan yelled as he swung his enemy rapidly about. "It's because you're nothing but a shadow of me! You're the scared little boy! I feel sorry for you!" Reaching optimum speed, he released his grip sending the demon smashing into a nearby mountain, causing the whole thing to crumble. The rocks had only just covered the demon from view when a blue light was emitting from between the rubble.
Exploding out of the rock pile, the demon had his hands cupped by his side. "YOU? Feel Sorry for ME!? What JOKE!!!" Blue energy with yellow spirals formed in his hands. "ATOMIC KAMEHAMEHA!!!" Demon Gohan launched the attack which turned from bright blue to blinding white light.
"ATOMIC KAMEHAMEHA!!!" Gohan charged and fired his own just in time. The two beams met dead center of the two and for a moment, time seemed to stop. Sound was erased and Gohan's eyes went wide.
'Uh oh.' Gohan thought, then immediately started to look frantically in every direction.
In a normal beam struggle, the two attacks will struggle for dominance, each warrior trying to overcome the others through sheer power. However, Due to the nature of the atomic Kamehameha, which is essentially the splitting of Ki particles, these two attacks didn't oppose each other. Instead, the meeting of two such attacks caused a chain reaction, combining the two beams into a single bomb.
The bomb expanded, distorting the air and disintegrating the ground. The destruction started slowly at first, then all at once
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The red skies of demon world were overtaken by a light of indescribable brightness.
Break
On the other side of the world, Buu appeared in the center of a massive crater. The place of his rebirth. He stared in the sky, then walked around, looking for something, he didn't know what. When Hercule said a place to return to, this is the first place he thought of, though being here now, he didn't know why. He hated Bibidi and didn't actually meet Babidi. That stupid ball was awful and he was only allowed out to have fun for short periods of time. Just enough to destroy a planet, hardly a warm up. But for all the hate he had for his former master and prison, this was the only place on earth he could go back to. But Hercule made going home sound nice. Not at all what he was feeling right now.
Buu growled in frustration. "There's gotta be something I'm missing. What else did he say?" He quickly recalled the man's words.
"Family and happiness, huh?" Buu meditated, trying to pull forth something that resembled those words. As he thought, a slow trickle of images played through his confused mind. A small dome with a smoking chimney. Delicious food cooking on the stove. The smile of a little child coupled with the warm embrace of a woman. They weren't memories exactly. More like the ghost of memories. But they were warm and made Buu feel not so empty. He liked that feeling.
Break
It was well past midnight when the Buu appeared on mount Paozu. Though no smoke rose from the chimney and he could not smell any food being cooked, the Son house matched the picture in his head perfectly. Without thinking, the Majin pushed open the door and walked inside. The house was dark and deserted, but that didn't stop Buu from exploring the place. Everything was as he imagined it to be. The layout was familiar to him, the furniture arranged exactly how he imagined it to be, and this certainly felt far better than that empty crater.
"Still…" Buu said quietly. "Something's missing." He walked toward the kitchen, thinking maybe he'd pick up a snack while he searched. But just before he walked through the archway separating the main room from the kitchen, he stopped abruptly, staring at the wall. Covering the wall were an assortment of frames, and each one told a story. Of course he recognized the faces from Goku's memory, but seeing them like this was different, somehow. One showed a beautiful woman, in a wedding dress gripping the arm of a man with palm tree hair. Another had a little boy with an orange ball on his hat riding the man like a horse. Another depicted all three at a picnic.
Going down the wall of memories, Buu noticed that sometimes the man was with the boy, sometimes the woman, but in everyone, the subjects looked happy. Soon though, there was no man at all, as if he had just disappeared from the group altogether. This disturbed Buu greatly for some reason. As he continued his tour of photos, he noticed that the little boy seemed to have shrunk and two seemingly new people started showing up. He recognized both of these immediately.
"Gohan… Zangya." He smiled at them. Those two had probably been the most fun to fight. "Maybe I should have let them live." He looked at the little boy he now realized must be Goten. He stared at these pictures for what seemed like forever. Buu's emotions were a torrent of contradictions. He wanted to fight them, he wanted to protect them. He wanted to play with them. He wanted to kill them.
"Family…" he said at last. "Yeah, that sounds fun." Then, with a smile on his face, he vanished, leaving the Son home empty once more.
Break
Back in demon world
When at long last the light died away, the red sky reappeared, but all that remained of the land was a handful of rocky masses scattered through the air, drifting listlessly through the demonic realm.
On top of one of these rocks, a yellow dome of energy shone brightly, holding within it 4 people.
Gohan stood breathing heavily with his arms outstretch, burn marks all over his body. Behind him, Piccolo, Dabura and Towa stared with wide eyed terror at the devastation the last attack had caused. Towa collapsed, her trembling legs unable to support her any further.
Gohan dropped the shield and turned to face the spectators. "Few!" He sighed with relief. "That was a close one."
For the first time since the battle began, Towa's face dropped her awed expression. It was replaced with something like rage.
"GrrrrWHAT DO YOU MEAN IT WAS A CLOSE ONE!!??" She yelled while standing up and grabbing Gohan by his gi. "YOU DESTROY AN ENTIRE PLANET AND ALL YOU SAY IS 'FEW'!!??"
"Well, yeah…" Gohan scratched his cheek out of embarrassment. "Sorry about the planet. I didn't know it would do that. But at least that place wasn't inhabited." Gohan reasoned with the angry demon.
Towa wasn't sure what she should address first. The fact that Demon realm planets should be near impossible to destroy with a single attack for someone not at, or at least close to the god level, or how he knew the planet was barren. But before she could ask, Dabura added his two cents. "The planet was of no consequence. Just a barren rock in the infinity of demon realm. We are of course, grateful for your swift actions in protecting us."
Gohan gave Dabura a look that said he wouldn't have minded leaving him behind. "Once I realized what was happening, I kind of just acted on instinct… at least nobody was hurt."
"Nobody but you." Piccolo looked at Gohan's burns with concern.
"Yeah." Gohan acknowledged his injuries. "That explosion was intense. I guess I got caught a bit while escaping. But if I hadn't flown us to a safe distance, we probably would all be dust right now, even with the force field."
Piccolo nodded. "So, do you think-"
"No." Gohan cut his master off. "He's still alive. Though I'd bet he's just as banged up as me. Probably more so. He didn't start running till after me." The young Saiyan cracked his knuckles and was about to take off when Piccolo's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to look at his mentor.
"Gohan…" "What's up?"
Piccolo stared at his student with pride and awe. It seemed like only yesterday he was teaching the runt how to fight. Now he couldn't even keep up with his movements. He'd come such a long distance in so many ways.
"You can beat him." Piccolo said at last. "He may be a part of you, but he isn't you. You are so much more than he could ever be."
Gohan looked right back at the namekian with a genuine smile. "Thanks Mr. Piccolo."
"Now go finish this."
"Right!"
Break
On another floating rock at a great distance away, dark Gohan dropped his purple energy shield and dropped to a knee. "Damn… *KAK*" he coughed up some blood. "DAMN IT! WHY THE HELL CAN HE STILL MATCH ME! WHY WON'T HE JUST QUIT!"
"Because I can't quit." At the sound of this voice the demon stood up and spun around. "Piccolo and the demons are ok, by the way."
For a brief moment, the dark Gohan looked almost relieved, but it was short lived. "What do you mean you can't quit!?" He spat. "You were completely willing to call a truce before. What's the difference?"
Gohan ignored the question and started to survey the destruction he and his counterpart had caused.
"That was mine." He commented quietly.
"What!?" Asked dark Gohan in confusion and anger.
"That attack. I invented it. I gotta admit, it's pretty amazing."
"Tch. So what?"
"I guess it's just funny. Just like rescuing Zangya, that attack is something you can't claim any credit for. Piccolo was right. I am more than you." Gohan looked at his opponent with a gleam in his eye.
"Shut up!" Screamed the demon. "Inventing an attack means nothing! Saving Zangya was just one good thing out of a dozen mistakes! You still let Piccolo and dad Die!"
"They chose to die." Gohan replied sadly, but calmly.
"They died to protect you!" The demon accused. "Because you were too weak."
"That's right I was!" Gohan shouted back. "I was too weak. If I was stronger, if I had started my training sooner, Piccolo wouldn't have had to die to protect me. Maybe if I had mastered my power sooner, then dad wouldn't have sacrificed himself against Cell. Maybe if I hadn't been so indecisive, then Hercule wouldn't have been killed. Even if Piccolo and Hercule came back, Dad still stayed dead, and yeah, he's probably lost forever…" Gohan paused as the reality of never seeing his dad again sunk in.
"But he made a choice!" Gohan continued. "He chose to protect what he cared about! To do everything in his power to keep us safe. Now I have to make a choice. I wish I could change the past, but I can't. All I can do is honor his sacrifice and do everything in my power to protect those I love. I can't change the past, but I will protect their future."
"Nice words" Sneered the demon. "But that's all it is. You will never live up to them. You've proven time and again that you don't deserve our true power."
"You know why I offered a truce?" Gohan asked. "For years, I've buried you. Kept you hidden and only brought you out when everything else failed, most the time not even on purpose. All the while you festered inside me. All my rage. All my pain. All my mistakes. I buried you as deep as I could, hoping that you'd never break free or that you'd disappear completely. Until you became this." Gohan gestured to his darker self.
"When the fight started, all I could think about was that this was my chance to get rid of you. To never have to deal with the pain or my shame again. If I could just beat you, I'd finally be free of you. But I realized something, or at least, Zangya helped me realize something."
"Everything you represent, pain, fear, rage. It means nothing when compared to the love I have for my friends and family. That's what Piccolo meant when he said I was more than you. You're afraid to lose them, but that's all you can feel for them. I love them and they love me and because they love me, I WILL keep them safe. For them, I will learn from my mistakes and honor the sacrifice that dad made to keep me safe. For them, I will use my rage as a weapon of righteousness against those who threaten to destroy. For them, I will embrace the pain of loss, guilt and injustice instead of hiding from it because they are born from love. For them, I extended my hand to you, hoping that you felt the same. I'm willing to accept everything you are, everything I regret and turn it into my strength. And now, for them… HAAAAAAH!!!" Gohan's power flared. "I will win this fight."
Once Gohan had finished his speech, the demon stood still, head bowed low, looking at the ground. Gohan maintained his fighting stance, keeping his guard up, but didn't move an inch while his counterpart stood still.
When the demon looked up, Gohan was surprised to see that his expression wasn't angry. It was almost sorrowful. What turned Gohan's surprise into outright shock was when he spotted a single tear drop from the dark red eyes and fall through space. When at last he spoke, two words were all he uttered.
"Prove it."
Gohan nodded, accepting his challenge.
"HAH!" Gohan shouted as he threw the first punch. Dark Gohan took the attack on his cross guard then opened his mouth wide, launching his mouth blast point blank at Gohan's head. The blonde ducked to avoid it, losing some of his hairs in the process. He came back up with an uppercut, which the demon met with a downward chop. Gohan quickly changed his uppercut into an elbow strike that he drove into his counterpart's abdomen. Despite the pain etched on his face, the demon reached out and grabbed Gohan's head with both hands and delivered a head-butt, the shockwave of which destroyed the rock they were floating on. As blood trickled down Gohan's face, he continued his assault. Though both fighters were drained from their long fight and many injuries, they retained a fire in their eyes' that seemed to defy their fatigue.
Gohan fired a Masenko, Dark Gohan put up a force field and fired a Ki blast right back at him. The attack hit air as Gohan had used his own blast as type of smoke screen to get around to his opponents side, delivering a 1-2 combination right on top of the ribs, the demon winced in pain but swung a back hand at his lighter side. Gohan swayed back to avoid it before taking advantage of the wide swing and landed a crescent kick into his adversary's solar plexus. As if this didn't hurt enough, Gohan fired a Ki blast from the foot which landed point blank into the demons chest and sent him flying and crashing into one of the floating rocks.
Dark Gohan jumped out of the rubble and brought his hands over his head. "ALRIGHT YOU PUNK! LET'S SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THIS! SUPER MASENKO HAAAAAAA!!!"
A giant yellow blast raced straight at Gohan. Cupping his hands at his side, the Saiyan responded in kind. "Super, KAMEHAMEHA!!!"
Preparing himself for the ensuing beam struggle, Dark Gohan poured as much of his remaining energy into the Masenko as he could. Just as the two beams were about to meet, the Kamehameha veered off to the side and curved right back at its original target. The attack hit him before he could even cut off his own attack. Perhaps the blast would have engulfed him and the fight would be over right then, but Gohan had sacrificed the power of his attack in order to gain speed the necessary speed to let his attack reach its target first despite the redirect.
When the energy died down, Dark Gohan was still floating in place. Burnt, bruised and bleeding, but very much alive. Unfortunately for him, Gohan was right on top of him. The teen sent blow after blow into the demons body. Right fist, left knee, knife hand, Ki blast. With one technique after another Gohan poured on the damage, leaving the demon no time to block or recover.
After a long assault with punches and kicks moving a thousand miles a minute, Gohan finally raised both hands above his head and brought the combined fist down on his counterpart. The demon sailed through the air, till he finally landed on one of the larger land masses. The dark side struggled to get to his feet, but as soon as he was up, he crumbled to the ground once more. And there he stayed.
Breathing hard and feeling himself short of energy, Gohan floated over to the rock with caution. He landed and walked slowly over to the fallen demon. Eyes closed, energy gone and covered in wounds, he didn't look like much. Still, Gohan wasn't much better off. If his dark side found the strength, well… Gohan was just hoping he stayed down. A swollen eye opened slowly and met his own. What Gohan found interesting was that the eye no longer held a desire for battle. In fact, it held no malice or rage, or any emotion for that matter. The demon raised a trembling hand slowly, reaching out to Gohan and the only thing the young Saiyan saw in his counterpart's eye was a simple plea.
"For them." The demon said weakly.
Gohan paused for just a moment, then nodded as he took the hand. "For them."
Break.
High above the earth, on Dende's look out, Chichi sat outside on a bench staring up at the starry sky. Her eyes were red and swollen with grief, her hand moved rhythmically, stroking the head of her little Goten who had fallen asleep in her lap.
"All I wanted was for us to be a family." She spoke to herself. "Zangya, Gohan, Goku…" Tears that she thought had run out came back fresh, her face falling into her hands. "Why did you all have to go?"
"It's ok Chichi. Don't cry."
Chichi stood up at the sound of the familiar voice, nearly dropping Goten. She turned around and saw a figure in the shadow of one of the trees. "G-Goku?"
The figure stepped into the moonlight to reveal himself and she stepped back in horror. "You!?"
Buu smiled gently, looking sinister in the pale moonlight. "We can still be a family if you want."
End chapter.
Tell me what you think. Next chapter won't take a year to upload.